Help Zora Come Home to Riverside

Dear friends,

Many of you know Zora from Riverside, where she has been a staple of the queer community for seven years. As a friend, roommate, teacher, musician, and writer, she brings her kindness, wisdom, and talent to everything she touches. To say we love her is a profound understatement.

Over the last two years, Zora has moved towards self-actualizing as a trans person. This work is hard-won, and not always easy. Not only is she coming out as a Black trans woman in an inhospitable world, but she was also raised in a very religious household. The process of coming out has unearthed the traumatic realities of how both anti-Blackness and Evangelicalism have impacted her capacity to thrive. We want Zora to know that she does not have to face these difficult challenges alone and that she has the support of a loving community.

Last spring, Zora had to take medical leave from her teaching job at UCR as she managed the mental health effects of working through her trauma. The realities of unemployment have led Zora to return to her family’s home in Maryland this summer. While she is grateful for the shelter and care they have offered, their home is not a tenable solution while she pursues her transition.

As her friends and chosen family, we want Zora to know that we not only love her and have her back, but that we understand the gravity of this process. We can do this through lessening the financial strain of this time. She is facing debt from an ambulance ride after a car accident in May and unpaid bills from her time without work or health insurance. She also needs money for a security deposit and a few months’ rent on a new apartment in Riverside, where she is supported by her chosen family.

Anyone who knows Zora knows that she is brilliant, caring, and highly focused. She has put study – reading, writing, and collective thinking -- before everything else, devoting her adult life to thought at the intersection of Black studies, gender liberation, music, and art. It takes a lot of courage for her to admit, and share, that her focus right now is herself. She deserves that freedom, and we can help her achieve it.

With love,

Zora’s Riverside Community.

Estimated Breakdown of Expenses:

Ambulance bill: $6,097

Hospital cost: $553

Other bills: $850

Rent (September/October): $3500

Goal: $11,000